Red Bull confirms Liam Lawson as Checo Pérez’s replacement | Formula 1 | Sports

Red Bull extended the uncertainty for just 16 hours, and the one that welcomed Liam Lawson as the Mexican’s replacement for 2025, which occurred this Thursday morning. In this way, the team has opted for the New Zealand driver as Max Verstappen’s partner, the cornerstone of its project in Formula 1, two events before the end of the championship. Lawson is a risky bet on the part of the executive who manages the red buffalo team. Not only because of his youth (22 years), but because his service record only includes 11 grand prix, all in Racing Bulls (RB), Red Bull’s second team, and as a replacement for Daniel Ricciardo. Lawson made his debut in the competition last season following the accident that the Australian suffered in Holland and which kept him out of five races. Later, in 2024, the corridor kiwi He took over Ricciardo’s wheel at RB starting with the United States Grand Prix and participated in the last six races of the season. So far, his best result is the ninth position he achieved in Singapore (2023) and Austin (2024).

The decision made in the offices of the Milton Keynes structure (Great Britain) is a hard blow for Yuki Tsunoda, . At first, the Japanese seemed to have more numbers than his direct rival, especially based on his experience, given that he has been on the grid since 2021. In this sense, it is worth noting that Honda, current engine supplier to Red Bull and one of those most interested in promoting Tsunoda, will stop supplying the energy brand in 2026 and will partner with Aston Martin. That probably worked against the Kanagawa challenger.

“Liam’s performance in his two seasons with Racing Bulls has made it clear that he is not only capable of delivering great results, but is also a driver who is not afraid to be with the best,” argues Christian Horner, the director of Red Bull. “His arrival, from the Junior program – the driver training platform of the company’s racing division – follows in the wake of champions like Sebastian Vettel and, of course, Max,” adds the boss, who defines it as “a task of enormous proportions” to have to compete under the roof of the same garage as the Dutchman. “I am very excited to be able to work alongside Max, and to learn from a champion. I have no doubt that I am going to extract very positive things from him,” says Lawson.

This maneuver aims to reduce the gap between the performance of Verstappen and his teammate, which in the exercise that concluded at the beginning of the month amounted to 285 points. With McLaren in full swing – it celebrated the constructors’ title that it had not won since 1998 – and Ferrari in the hands of Lewis Hamilton and an increasingly sharp car, Red Bull cannot allow one of its drivers to be proclaimed champion and the other to finish the eighth, without being able to get on the podium in seven months of competition.